Steve Taylor Position: Head Coach (Men), Asst. Coach (Women) Experience: 8th Year at Richmond Alma Mater: Virginia Tech, '88

Email: staylor7@richmond.edu
Phone: 804-287-1935

Steve Taylor enters his 18th year as a collegiate coach and his eighth year at the University of Richmond with anticipation, ambition, and vision that includes success at the highest level for the Spiders' programs. The men's and women's track & field teams have averaged 14 school records per year over the past 7 years, totaling 91 records in all. With a young team consisting mostly of sophomores and juniors and an incoming class of twenty-three freshmen it's easy to see why there is a lot to look forward to.

This past fall at the 2007 Atlantic 10 Conference Cross Country Championships the Spider men's and women's teams each finished in the runners-up position. This marked the men's highest ever finish within the league. Five Spider athletes earned All-Conference Cross Country honors including 3rd place finisher, Jon Molz who was a mere 5 seconds off the winning pace. During the track seasons the improvement continued, especially for the distance runners. Sophomore, Andrew Benford qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships in the 5,000M (14:09.01) at the Mt. SAC Relays in Los Angeles and in the 3K Steeplechase (8:59.11) at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia. In addition to Benford, the Spiders Jon Molz and freshman, Nicol Traynor also qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships. Molz ran 9:04.76 in the 3K Steeplechase and Traynor ran 16:42.96 for 5K at the Atlantic 10 Conference Championships.

"We want to see our athletes improve and they are", said Taylor. "Both Lori and I believe in our program and know that these men and women can compete at the highest level. They are proving that if you attend Richmond you will earn a great education and perform athletically at the highest level."

In the fall of 2006 Taylor also coached five All-Conference Cross Country performers including the top two Rookie men in the meet and the top Rookie woman. Andrew Benford finished eighth overall to take Rookie of the Year honors for the league. He was followed by freshman, Matt Llano in 10th who was the second rookie to cross the line. For the women, Amy Van Alstine earned Rookie of the Year honors for the league by placing fourth in the championships. She repeated the honor at the A-10 Indoor Championships for her efforts in the Mile and 3000M.

Earlier in the fall of 2006 Benford represented the United States in the World Junior (under 20) Mountain Running Championships in Bursa, Turkey where he led the USA team to the highest ever team placing with his 12th place overall finish. His individual finish is the highest ever by a US Junior Athlete. Llano finished the year earning USATF Track & Field All-American honors for his 3rd place finish in the 10K at the Junior National Championships in Indianapolis, Ind. Taylor also guided the Distance Medley Relay team to the indoor conference title and Jessica Young to NCAA All-America honors in the indoor 60M and the outdoor 400M. She ran under 53.0 in the 400M on nine occasions during the 2007 outdoor season and set her personal best in the last meet of the year, the USATF Championships where she ran 52.47 to advance to semi-finals. Young was also crowned the 55M dash champion at the league finals with the 4th fastest time in the USA for the 2007 indoor season.

At the 2004 Atlantic 10 Conference Cross Country Championships Taylor coached the Spiders' John Ciccarelli, to the individual title as he defeated a stellar field in leading the team to a fourth place finish. Ciccarelli was also crowned the conference champion in the 3,000 at the 2005 indoor championships. During his seven years as a Spider, Taylor's men's cross country teams have competed in the NCAA Southeast Regional competition where they placed 11th in 2003. The men's cross country and indoor track & field teams each finished fourth at the 2004 Atlantic 10 Championships. In 2007 he coached 18 All-Conference performers and 3 individual champions, including the men's Distance Medley Relay.

In 2008, four Spider athletes qualified in five events for the NCAA East Regional Track & Field Championships and twenty-three top 3 honors were earned by athletes he worked directly with. Over his seven-year tenure with the Spiders Taylor's athletes have earned All-Conference honors on 84 occasions and have been crowned conference champion 18 times.

The men's cross country and track & field teams also earned NCAA All-Academic team honors for the seventh-straight season. The men's cross country team maintained an overall GPA of 3.43 which ranked fifth nationally in 2003, while the men's track & field team held a 3.27 overall GPA, which ranked third among the nation's leaders in 2004.

During Taylor's coaching career his athletes have earned nine league team titles in cross country and track & field, 40 individual champions have been crowned and 192 all-conference performers have been decorated. The Spiders have had 15 NCAA All-Region performers in cross country including John Ciccarelli in 2004 and 2005.

Before coming to Richmond, Taylor coached cross country at Virginia Tech for 10 years and saw his Hokies earn three league titles and never finish worse than runner-up. Also, 27 individual champions were crowned on his watch during the cross country, indoor and outdoor seasons. He saw 108 all-conference performers and 13 all-region performers in cross country. In 2001, he coached the men's distance medley relay team of Paul Hayes, Buck Grant, Ali Najjar and Chris Seaton to the NCAA Championships where it placed 10th, qualifying with a program record time of 9:37.98.

Taylor has been awarded two prestigious honors in his career. He earned induction into the Mid-Ohio Valley Sports Hall of Fame in June of 1999. During the fall of the same year, Taylor took his place among the Hokie greats when he was inducted into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame. He and his wife Lori, joined head football coach Frank Beamer as the only inductees voted in while still serving the Virginia Tech Athletic Department. Taylor has also coached athletes on the national stage and into the World Championships. Howard Nippert, Mike Cox, George Probst and Andrew Benford have all competed at the international level under his guidance. Nippert placed 7th at the 2007 IUA World 100K Championships making a record 10 straight USA teams. He also holds the 6th fastest 100K time in US history.

As a Virginia Tech graduate in 1988, he earned All-American honors in track with a third-place finish in the 10,000 meters at the 1987 NCAA Championships. He also garnered All-America honors in cross country with a ninth-place finish in the 1987 NCAA Cross Country Championships, helping the Hokies to a fourth place team finish. He also still holds Tech records in the 3,000 and 5,000.

Taylor is a former two-time member of the United States World Cup Marathon team (1991 and 1995) which competed in London, England, and Athens, Greece. He also was a member of the 1991 United States World Track & Field Championship Team which competed in Tokyo, Japan.

As a professional runner, Taylor finished sixth in the 1992 Olympic Marathon Trials held in Columbus, Ohio, and was named an alternate to the Olympic team. He qualified for the USA Olympic Team Trials in 1988 (10K), 1992 (Marathon) and 1996 (Marathon) before retiring from racing. In 1988, he won the TAC (USA Track & Field) National Championship in the 10,000M and RRCA 10 Mile National Championship.

"Lori and I are both passionate about this sport," Taylor added. "We are professionals and expect our athletes to be committed and dedicated. That means they will be expected to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve success. As coaches we believe in developing all aspects of our student-athletes. That is one of the reasons we are so happy to be coaching at the University of Richmond." During his career Taylor set personal best performances of 4:00.6 in the mile (Roanoke, Va., 1990), 13:38 in the 5,000 (Nissiping, Sweden, 1989), 27:59 in the 10K (Pittsburg, Pa., 1988), 47:01 in the 10 mile (Washington, D.C., 1989), 1:02:29 in the half-marathon (Toronto, Canada, 1990) and 2:13:56 in the marathon (Columbus, Ohio, 1990).

Taylor received his bachelor of science degree in education with a sport management option from Virginia Tech in 1988. He is married to women's coach Lori Taylor and they have a four year-old son, Luke.